REVIEW: Greet the Sea

In this Music Thursday, we’d like to introduce to you a local startup, Greet the Sea — a Seattle indie-rock band who dropped their self-titled debut release this last week.

In their likable debut, Greet the Sea blends post-rock instrumentals with pop melodies and vocals, and the unique genre fusion is refreshing. The arrangements and performances are great, and the softer vocals balance the heavier, more intense sequences very well. There’s a lot of finesse and nuance to be found in these seven tracks, should one take the time to seek them out. The album’s best moments include the instrumental middle part of “Bad News in Phoenix,” the ambient progressions in “Observatory” and “Half Measured,” and the nine-minute closer “The Future Isn’t What It Used To Be.”

However, the mix gets pretty muddy when the drums and vocals enter the mix, so it’s harder to find the aforementioned nuance. I’m not sure if it’s a mixing problem, a recording problem, or a band dynamic problem. Something just doesn’t sit well with the release, and it obscures some moments that could have been really great. The vocals are too strong for their place in the mix, so their role seems a bit confused. The drums also take more than their share of space and drown out some pieces that could have used more of a pop.

Nevertheless, Greet the Sea does have a lot of potential. This first greeting is a bit awkward, and the band has some work to do before I’d say that they’re dialed in. But I’m certainly going to keep an eye on them as they move forward. I look forward to future releases from Greet the Sea; I honestly think that they have something special going for them should their skills be further developed.